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The Hollow Queen
The Hollow Queen is a Raid Event scheduled to start on April 1, 2018 at 8:00 PM (PST) and end on April 7, 2018 at 7:59 PM (PST). It is the forty ninth episode of the Dark Stigma story and twenty fifth in the Malice Canon storyline. Half-time Reward Calculation Period is at April 3, 2018 from 8:00 PM to 8:59 PM (PST). __TOC__ Feature Changes 1%, 3% and 5% Spring UR Ticket as Individual Ranking Reward down to rank 800. Raid Bosses Skill Cards * Minuscule Major Axaya (UR) Anti-Raid Boss Skill Card, obtained from the Oath of Survival Card Pack * Fox Healer Shiamann (UR) Anti-Hidden Raid Boss Skill Card, obtained from the Oath of Survival Card Pack * Robnas, Orc Sorceror (UR) Anti-Secret Raid Boss Skill Card, obtained from the Oath of Survival Card Pack * Highest Elf Hiyoldi (UR) Special Evolution Card, Skill works against all Raid Bosses of the event, obtained from the Master of Fate Card Pack Prologue A maze of muddy puddles and streams rested at the feet of trees with branches twisted upward as if lifted in anguish. However, this unnerving scene could only be imagined from the cliffs upon which you stood. A thick blanket of fog was obscuring your view. "And we're supposed to find our way through all that? I've had thinner stew." Salvador's question was directed at the fairy flying above his shoulder. "That's right, we just have to get to the other side." Her sleek silver hair framed lips as red as a rose. In contrast, the rest of her small body was fortified with armor and she held a lance honed to impossible sharpness. Her name was Axaya, leader of the fairy brigade of Androwyna. She had fought alongside you once before in the battle of the Proclamation Stone. "I'll give you one last chance to turn back now. Like I said, I've been through this swamp before, so you don't need to worry about me." Her stern eyes, fixed on the far edge of the misty swath, were tinged with regret. She apparently felt responsible for a past blunder of hers, but you did not want her to bear the consequences alone. The new king of Androwyna, Ermidal, had requested your return to the country. It seemed the diverse nation faced yet another crisis which required your assistance. As if vocalizing that unease, a distant moaning drifted from beneath the fog. Elimval trembled with fear. "What... was that?" Faint shadows could be seen moving down below, and Axaya directed her spear at them. "They're ghouls, living creatures that feed off rotten flesh. They might look like Stigmals, but they're native to this area." You were in Makalista, a region on the western end of Androwyna. The ghouls inhabited the sprawling wetlands here, eating the carcasses of animals beneath the marshy lakes. They were widely shunned because of their incoherency and sluggish movements but were left undisturbed if they did not wander elsewhere. The only recorded instance of the ghouls displaying aggression was when King Gnoff of the human race used magic to give them knowledge for the purpose of bolstering his forces. However, his scheme was foiled by a single young girl... She was a high-born fairy who had the potential to become their queen if not for her interest in combat. Before coming of age, her training allowed her to boast incredible strength. "I haven't been here since before I entered the academy. I was really strong, but didn't have patience for anything besides drills..." Nostalgic memories stirred in that girl, now the leader of her army. Axaya continued her tale as her eyes followed the ambling figures in the mist. "This was also the home for us fairies, so we worshiped the great elf queen Hiyoldi like everyone else here. It was during a prayer service one week that a ghoul suddenly barged into the temple and crushed one of my maids. No one had ever seen a ghoul move that fast before, so we were all stunned until it escaped. Fortunately, another fairy managed to follow him from the sky and saw he was headed to King Gnoff's military stronghold bordering the swamp. When it was reported the ghoul was a subject in his experiments, I was so mad I flew straight there." Once she passed through an open window, the ominous atmosphere made it immediately apparent he was engaged in something truly heinous. "Even before the incident, there were plenty of bad rumors about King Gnoff, so the sight of him using sorcery on the ghouls wasn't surprising, if no less disgusting. Still, I didn't know why he was doing it, just that he was responsible for the death of my wonderful maid, and I wanted revenge. The first chance I saw, I dive-bombed the king and stabbed him in the neck with my dagger." It seemed he first regarded her as a lost child and tried to shoo her away, but to no avail. Then, upon witnessing his death, the king's subjects realized the impropriety of Gnoff's plan and expressed shame in following him. But perhaps because Axaya simply wanted revenge and was not intending to avert war, she left a single loose end: the king's daughter. "was laying on an altar like she was going to be sacrificed or something. In fact, her face was so pale I thought she was already dead." Her swaddling cloth bore the royal coat of arms which proved her lineage, but [[Minuscule Major Axaya|Axaya] left her behind, assuming she had fallen victim to the king's ambition. "And that girl grew up to become the queen of the ghouls, Ludslante." Elimval interjected, perhaps wishing to prove she was learned of the situation. Axaya sighed and nodded. "Yes, exactly." It was the name written in King Ermidal's letter. The council of Androwyna had determined she was taken in by the ghouls and raised as their own, somehow becoming their queen. Now under her command, they were marching through the swamp to the old keep of her father on the other side. "It's most likely she's after the sorcery her father used to give the ghouls the smarts to fight again. We have to stop her before that happens." Despite her words, Axaya did not seem entirely convinced that was her motive. Perhaps she noticed the same contradiction you did; Ludslante would have no knowledge of her father's death and hence no need to want revenge. However, King Ermidal had mentioned sightings of the Lightholders in the land once more, so it was possible they informed her. The empire's goal to harness the military might of Androwyna failed once before, but the potential was too great to ignore later opportunities, the king assumed. Axaya had uprooted the plant of evil before it could blossom, but a single overlooked seed grew in secret. Even if she never intended to be her homeland's savior, she still felt the need to fix the mistakes of her youthful haste. Regardless, you had already set it upon yourself to thwart the empire wherever it reared its head, so you insisted upon cooperating. "Ahhhh!" A sudden gust ellicted a surprise gasp from Elimval. In the next instant, Axaya hovered just before her. The mist was beginning to thin, laying bare more of the creepy swamp below. She had never once let her gaze avert from it, proving she had the senses of a seasoned warrior. "Did you seriously manage to get through this place all by yourself when you were no bigger than a bee?" Salvador was incredulous of her earlier claim, but before Axaya could respond, the ghouls' moans grew louder. Over a thousand shuffled across the damp ground, their bone-chilling tones echoing through and beyond the dense but barren trees. "You bet your bow I did. There were about this many back then, too, probably placed there by King Gnoff as protection. Pretty sure I was about six at the time." The smallest, strongest warrior of Androwyna silently glided down the cliffside. Her fiery will was focused on only one goal: revising a nearly forgotten error. Epilogue The boggy land gave way to firmer ground as you approached the lake before Gnoff's fortress. Unfortunately, you were not given an opportunity to wash off the caked mud as enemies continued to hound you along the shores. The lamias' fierce offense and the Lightholders' stout defense tossed you about like the waves of a stormy sea. It was only with the help of your new allies that you were able to push through the enemy lines and pass through the fortress gates. At that moment, the Lightholders took note of their reduced numbers and retreated with the notion they had failed. This in turn convinced the lamias that justice indeed sided with you and they lowered their weapons. "C'mon, hurry!" Salvador urged you on; it was not yet time to relax. Ludslante and the ghouls had already entered the keep and it was possible she was still accompanied by Lightholders. You could not allow her to uncover her father's sorcery or let it fall into the empire's hands, so the party hastened through the entryway. ...... You raced along the musty corridors, ever alert for one final ambush, or worse. However, when you entered the main hall, a mystifying sight greeted you. Faint sunshine streamed through the windowless skylight, illuminating the ruined interior and the ghouls lying on the stone floor. Rather than howling with rage, they were sobbing with an unnerving quietness. Elimval whispered in wonder. "What... what's all this?" In the center was their queen upon the throne, also shedding tears. Ludslante's face, which until now had shown only vacuity, displayed a pastiche of anger, confusion, and grief. Beside the throne was a thick tome, splayed open. It likely held records of Gnoff's experiments and incantations. Although she had obtained what she sought, she did not wield it as expected. Axaya addressed her in a sympathetic tone.> "You know everything now, don't you, Ludslante? About what your father did and everything..." Her voice released further tears from Ludslante's eyes, opening up to behold the fairy. "Yes, I do. And I got what I wanted but could never receive: emotions. Those dogs of the empire told me that coming here would solve everything." Being raised by ghouls, Ludslante was never able to obtain the emotions of a human, but her instincts demanded she do so somehow. And now that she had, words she struggled to say since infancy finally returned to her -- and she spat out each one with regret and contempt, as if they were made of the foulest poison. From the evident scorn she expressed towards the Lightholders, it seemed to confirm they attempted to take advantage of her to obtain the secret sorcery. "Not only do I know what happened, but I know why they were important. The day my father discovered the spell and his joy. The day you murdered him and the grief and hatred of his subjects! The lingering spirit of his in this throne revealed it all to me!" The ghoul queen shouted as she stood up. It appeared the seat of the king held his residual grudge and passed it along to his daughter. "Yes, you killed my father... but he wanted to kill me! There was a spell in his tome that called for the sacrifice of a blood relative, and I was to be that sacrifice. But even if I wanted to use his magic, it is impossible, as I have no living family, only the pitiful ghouls who adopted me. To turn them into a fearsome army was a foolish dream, then and now, one that would end before it began." The ghouls' cries continued, punctuating their queen's words. Despite -- or because of -- their lack of emotions, they were highly sensitive to those of their peers. While their queen suffered, so did they. Then, in a grief-stricken voice, Ludslante asked Axaya a question. "Tell me, little one: who should I hate? You? My father? Destiny?" Her tearfulness and vain, pitiful question would be too much for almost anyone, but Axaya's eyes revealed she already knew how to respond. She had also faced tragedy at the hands of fate, and she spoke with a bold, dignified manner. "You should hate me. Keep that hate, but live with it as you live with me. Sooner or later, you should feel a new emotion. And maybe that will help make up for what I've done..." ...... Several days later, after ascertaining the peace of Makalista, you traveled the mountain ridge leading out of the country. High above the ground, you looked back over the swamplands. It was deserted once more. Gnoff's fortress disappeared into the fog, tragic past and all. The ghouls had been taken to Androwyna's main healing institution by Shiamann, where she was placing them under a protective spell so they could never again be enchanted. As for Ludslante, she agreed to Axaya's idea to live with the fairies. Perhaps she would eventually come learn an emotion, however faint, that was something besides sadness and malice... Chapters/Quests * Energy Raid Bosses Rewards Daily Ranking= Daily Ranking |-|Half-Time= Half-Time |-|Final Rankings= Final Rankings |-|Raid Boss Repels= Raid Boss Repels |-|Guild Ranking= Guild Ranking |-|Guild Repels= Guild Repels Category:Raid Events Category:Malice Canon Category:The Hollow Queen